Managers Back in Student Desks

Public faculties, higher education institutions, and business schools are rapidly supplementing their study programs and lifelong learning with specialized content aligned with labor market needs. In addition to regular students, they are seeing an increasing number of participants from the business sector, among whom are mostly middle and senior managers acquiring knowledge from various business programs. The classic MBA program that managers have traditionally attended has been enriched with numerous innovations, primarily knowledge from new technologies and data science, crisis management…

Partnership with Companies

These are lifelong education programs, such as those offered by the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing at the University of Zagreb, which has six. FER conducts them in the form of postgraduate specialist studies where experts from the economy are taught new technologies from selected areas important for specific industries. They are designed as a direct response to the needs of the economy and are fully adapted to the labor market, creating experts whose knowledge and skills are aligned with the latest economic trends. These are specialist studies: Products, Digital Innovations and Technologies in Insurance – INSURTECH, Project Management, Information Security, Railway Electrical Engineering Systems, Regulation of Electronic Communications Markets, and Transformers. FER emphasizes that all the mentioned specialist studies last one academic year (two semesters), or two years, with a maximum of four years with one extension without payment and another with payment. Students choose three mandatory and three elective subjects. In collaboration with partners from the economy, FER’s specialist studies provide participants with a high level of applied, research, and educational work in a specific area. Companies are directly involved in the curriculum of all six specialist studies, and in addition to lecturers from the academic community, some come from the industry, thus ensuring the transfer of key knowledge from the real sector to participants. FER conducts specialist studies with partners from the economy, and most participants come from companies such as Ericsson Nikola Tesla, HT, Croatia Insurance, Erste Bank, HŽ Infrastrukture, Dalekovod Project, HAKOM, Končar, Siemens, Petrokemija, and HEP.

Extracting Trends

Several types of MBA programs are also conducted by the Algebra Higher Education Institution, for example, the full e-Leadership MBA program lasting two years is conducted in collaboration with lecturers from the prestigious Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. The focus of this program is on creating business leaders for the digital age – leaders who know how to drive growth, development, and transformation of companies and know how to create new value in a digital environment.

– I believe that Algebra’s e-Leadership MBA is the best such program that combines business management skills and digital technologies – emphasizes Arsen Šolić, head of the MBA business area at Algebra.

Algebra Higher Education Institution also has two Mini MBA programs: Mini MBA Digital and Mini MBA Business Transformation, and now adds a third – Mini MBA Leadership, focusing on leadership skills. In addition, Algebra offers a range of MBA seminars: sales transformation, GreenTech, digital finance, business models based on artificial intelligence, law and technology, and many others.

– Algebra Higher Education Institution conducts a master’s program in data science (data science), which is a ‘hot’ and attractive area that could be interesting for individuals who want to acquire or develop analytical skills and apply them in business. The goal of this program is to create competent data scientists with a broad knowledge of computational methods, statistics, and a specific understanding of social issues that enables them to perform advanced data analyses from which conclusions can be drawn about trends and events in the real world, including the economy – notes Šolić.

A Good Future

Considering that data science experts come from various fields of previous education and experience, the only requirement for enrollment in the program is a desire for specialization in advanced data analytics, so this program at Algebra is also considered interesting for individuals from the economy.

– The knowledge and skills that the economy demands require shaping education towards acquiring interdisciplinary skills and in-depth knowledge of a specific area. Specifically, the market seeks individuals who understand both the business and technological sides of business – and this trend has been very pronounced for some time. Precisely for this reason, participants in our MBA programs are business executives who want to enhance their understanding of the opportunities and applications of digital technologies, as well as engineers of all profiles who want to better understand users, business, and people management – explains Šolić.

According to him, participants in these programs are most often middle or senior managers who need skills for further personal and professional development and career advancement, that is, an in-depth understanding of business and management issues in the digital age. Šolić believes that the future of MBA programs is extremely good, but on the condition of adapting to the needs of participants and the economy and monitoring technological changes.

Response to Challenges

Ivana Silić, head of the admissions department at RIT Croatia, emphasizes that the programs of this faculty are designed to best respond to the needs of the global labor market of the present and the future. She emphasizes that the focus of all programs is on developing both hard and soft skills, especially those that are increasingly needed today – such as critical and analytical thinking.

– As part of lifelong learning activities at RIT Croatia, Master of Science programs of RIT University are conducted on the Zagreb campus: Service Leadership and Innovation and Information Sciences and Technologies. Both programs excellently respond to the challenges faced by organizations in various industries and cover topics important for the business of the future. In the Service Leadership and Innovation study, students explore how to lead and adapt business in conditions of constant change and uncertainty. In Information Sciences and Technologies, they learn about data analytics at both the global and enterprise levels, which are highly sought-after skills among employers today and will be even more sought after in the future – emphasizes Silić.

She adds that the future of business programs should be viewed through the lens of exponential technological development and the unpredictability of changes that have become everyday occurrences. Such an environment already requires continuous upgrading of knowledge, that is, lifelong learning and acquiring skills and knowledge that include analytical thinking, innovation, active learning, problem-solving abilities, creativity, resilience, flexibility, and similar skills.

International Education

According to Marija Oblaković, head of marketing at the Zagreb School of Economics and Management, this school continuously works on improving existing educational programs.

In collaboration with the business community, ZŠEM receives information about market needs, which it then incorporates into its studies, thereby improving undergraduate studies as well as the MBA program.

– Due to the applicable knowledge we provide to participants, our Executive MBA program has become extremely sought after within the business community, and we are enrolling the eighth generation of students. It is designed for individuals in leadership positions within companies, providing them with a unique opportunity for improvement on weekends without neglecting business and family obligations – emphasizes Oblaković.

She points out that they have enhanced the mentioned study by adding a global dimension and designed a Global Executive MBA program that consists of a mandatory course at H-FARM College in Italy, a Bootcamp at Luxembourg School of Business, and a study trip to Singapore because successful international business also requires international education in successful business centers.

– Along with digital transformation, there is also a high demand for soft skills, which we work on a lot in the courses Management of Change and Human Resource Management – explains Oblaković.

She claims that the future of higher education lies in integrated applicable knowledge, new technologies, listening to market needs, and continuous improvement. There will always be room for traditional business schools and faculties, but lecturers with not only academic but also business experience, as well as the combination of academia and business, are of crucial importance.

Attractive Funds

The High Business School PAR, as part of the Center for Lifelong Learning, organizes numerous professional training, education, seminars, and training in finance, marketing, the preparation and implementation of EU projects, leadership, public relations, sports, health, tourism, and gastronomy. These certified education programs with enrollment in the e-workbook ensure individuals’ competitiveness in the labor market, as well as personal and professional growth.

According to research conducted by PAR, as well as the enrolled participants, there is currently the greatest interest in programs for the preparation and implementation of projects financed from EU funds and digital marketing. Given the digital transformation, new knowledge in the field of digital technology will be paramount, that is, the knowledge and skills that will be sought in the future will require knowledge of artificial intelligence, working in the ICT sector, developing mobile and web applications, digital marketing, and multimedia, which is why PAR is adapting its educational programs to these trends. Soon, it will launch two new study programs, and in addition to the Center for Lifelong Learning, it has also established a digital innovation hub DIGIPARC, a regional center for digital transformation where business, education, and innovation collaborate to align traditional industries with market needs, promote entrepreneurship, and provide new value focused on client demand. 

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